SAVE up to pounds 86 at the Proms with

We have teamed up with BBC Proms 96 to bring Independent readers an exclusive offer. Today you can save anything from pounds 3 up to pounds 86 when book tickets to two or more of our twelve Proms concerts at London's Royal Albert Hall. The more concerts you book to see, the more you can save.

On the left, you will find information on each concert including times, the conductor and soloists and the orchestra.

Printed on the top right you will find our discount table which lists what you can save when you book two or more concerts. For example, you might choose to book seven concerts and sit in the stalls. With a 25% discount, you would pay pounds 94.50 per person, saving pounds 31.50. Also listed are full prices to be paid if you are attending only one concert ('1a' refers to eleven of the concerts, '1b' refers to the concert on Tuesday 20 August).

There are four different seating areas. Please refer to the seating plan and discount table above.

Please note that if you choose to book tickets to two or more concerts, including the concert on Tuesday 20 August, you will need to pay an additional supplement per person (see bottom of discount table for details).

Now simply decide which concerts you wish to attend, choose where you want to sit and complete the booking form printed on the right. You will need to: fill in the number of tickets you require for each of your chosen concert dates; select your seating area; confirm the booking price per person and lastly, confirm your payment details.

The offer is subject to availability. If you have any queries, please call the Royal Albert Hall Helpline on 0171 589 8212.

WIN TICKETS TO THE LAST NIGHT OF THE PROMS

Everyone who applies for tickets to the BBC Proms 96 will automatically be entered into a prize draw to win a set of four tickets to the last night of the Proms. If you have not applied for our ticket offer, but you still want to enter our prize draw, send details of your name, address and telephone number on a postcard to: Proms 96 Draw, The Independent, One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5DP. The closing date is 30 June 1996. The winner will be the first entry picked at random. Normal Newspaper Publishing plc rules apply. There is no cash alternative. The Editor's decision is final.

CONCERTS

The Independent and the BBC welcome readers to the second century of the BBC Proms, with an exclusive offer.

The twelve concerts available are specially previewed here. Details include name of the orchestra, soloists and the conductor.

The Proms 96 Guide is available from all good bookshops or by calling 0191 222 0381.

Sunday 21 July

7.30pm -c9.50pm

Weill The Silver Lake (in German)

Act 1 INTERVAL Acts 2 and 3

Fennimore Juanita Lascarro soprano

Frau von Luber Helga Dernesch mezzo-soprano

Baron Laur Heinz Zednik tenor

Severin Heinz Kruse tenor

Lottery Agent Graham Clark tenor

1st Shopgirl Catrin Wyn-Davies soprano

2nd Shopgirl Katarina Karneus mezzo-soprano

Gravedigger Gidon Saks bass-baritone

London Sinfonietta Chorus

London Sinfonietta

Markus Stenz conductor

Kurt Weill's last work written for Germany, before he left the country in 1933, is one of the sharpest reflections of that turbulent era. The music is gritty and jazz-influenced.

Wednesday 24 July

7.30pm - c9.35pm

Wagner Overture and Venusberg Music from 'Tannhauser'

Strauss Four Last Songs

INTERVAL

Dvorak In Nature's Realm

Bax Spring Fire

Christine Brewer soprano

BBC Symphony Orchestra

Mark Elder conductor

Bax's atmospheric picture of nature and creation is one of the finest British works from early this century, never before heard at the Proms. Contrasting sounds of nature are evoked by Dvorak and Wagner, while Richard Strauss's songs capture a mood of regretful farewell, and are sung by the outstanding soprano from last Prom season's War Requiem.

Wednesday 31 July

7.30pm - c9.55pm

John Pickard

The Flight of Icarus London premiere

Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 1

INTERVAL

Rachmaninov Symphony No. 2 in E minor

Steven Isserlis cello

BBC National Orchestra of Wales

Mark Wigglesworth conductor

Russia dominates the BBC National Orchestra of Wales's programme, with Rachmaninov's vast symphony and Shostakovich's sharp-edged cello concerto, played by the soloist who gave the premiere of Tavener's The Protecting Veil. It is prefaced by the first London performance of one of the most successful premieres the orchestra has given in recent years.

Friday 9 August

7.30pm - c9.50pm

Haydn

Symphony No. 94 in G major

'Surprise'

Alfred Schnittke Viola Concerto INTERVAL

Prokofiev Symphony No. 7

Yuri Bashmet viola

Russian National Orchestra

Mikhail Pletnev conductor

Schnittke's intense Viola Concerto has quickly established itself as a modern classic: it is here played by the virtuoso to whom it is dedicated. Pletnev has had great success in Haydn, as pianist and conductor; the companion symphony, Prokofiev's Seventh, is among his most genial and likeable works, light in tone but strong in substance.

Wednesday 14 August

7.30pm - c9.40pm

Vaughan Williams

Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis

John Woolrich Oboe Concerto

BBC commission: world premiere

Bach orch. Stokowski

Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor

INTERVAL

Brahms orch. Schoenberg

Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor

Nicholas Daniel oboe

BBC Symphony Orchestra

Matthias Bamert conductor

Vaughan Williams's debt to Tudor music and Schoenberg's devotion to Brahms were central to their creative lives. Stokowski's arrangement contrasts with Schoenberg's.

Tuesday 20 August

7.30pm - c9.35pm

Strauss Till Eulenspiegel

Ned Rorem

Cor Anglais Concerto London premiere

INTERVAL

Tchaikovsky

Symphony No. 5 in E minor

Thomas Stacy cor anglais

New York Philharmonic

Kurt Masur conductor

Kurt Masur, a regular Proms visitor, returns with the New York Philharmonic, of which he is now Music Director. Their triumphant partnership has resulted in many recordings and tours: for this visit they introduce a lyrical concerto by an American composer, and bring two major orchestral showpieces.

Thursday 22 August

7.00pm - c9.15pm

Wagner

Prelude, Liebestod from 'Tristan and Isolde'

Siegfried Matthus

Der Wald UK premiere

INTERVAL

Beethoven

Piano Concerto No. 3in C minor

Bruckner Te Deum

Andreas Haefliger piano Yvonne Kenny soprano Catherine Wyn-Rogers mezzo- soprano Thomas Randle tenor

Peter Sidhom baritone

Philharmonia Chorus

BBC Symphony Orchestra

Claus Peter Flor conductor

Three periods of German music come together as Claus Peter Flor conducts.

Friday 23 August

6.30pm - c10.29pm

Berg Lulu (semi-staged)

Act 1 INTERVAL Act 2 INTERVAL Act 3

Glyndebourne Festival Opera

Andrew Davis conductor

Lulu Christine Schafer (soprano)

Geschwitz Kathryn Harries (mezzo-soprano)

Alwa David Kuebler (tenor)

Dr Schon/Jack the Ripper

Wolfgang Schone (baritone)

Schigolch Norman Bailey (bass) and

Patricia Bardon (mezzo-soprano)

Donald Maxwell (baritone)

Stephan Drakulich (tenor)

Neil Jenkins (tenor)

Jonathan Veira (baritone)

Andrew Davis brings his acclaimed production from Glyndebourne.

Friday 30 August

7.00pm - c9.05pm

Elgar Cockaigne

Nicholas Maw Violin Concerto

INTERVAL

Vaughan Williams

Symphony No. 5 in D major

Joshua Bell violin

The London Philharmonic

Roger Norrington conductor

An all-English programme from the London Philharmonic and its Principal Guest Conductor. It reflects Roger Norrington's exploration of Vaughan Williams (with a symphony premiered at the Proms in 1943) and introduces a successful recent violin concerto - a lyrical piece by Nicholas Maw, played by the brilliant American violinist who gave its premiere.

Sunday 1 September

2.30pm - c4.45pm

Rameau

Les Fetes d'Hebe INTERVAL

Haydn

Symphony No 103 in E flat major ("Drumroll")

Beethoven

Violin Concerto in D major

Thomas Zehetmair violin

Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century

Frans Bruggen conductor

The Proms debut of the group Frans Bruggen founded in 1981 from Europe's best period-instrument players. Bruggen's love of colour and adventure in music has meant that Rameau has been a speciality, as have Haydn's mature symphonies.

Monday 2 September

7.30pm - c9.35pm

Messiaen

Chronochromie

INTERVAL

Bruckner

Symphony No 7 in E major

City of Birmingham Symphony

Sir Simon Rattle conductor

Sir Simon Rattle is only forty-one, but celebrates twenty years at the Proms this summer. For the first time, he and the CBSO bring a Bruckner symphony - one of the peaks of his output - whose slow movement pays moving homage to Wagner. A typically provocative coupling places alongside this opulence Messiaen's sharply etched exploration of 'the colours of time'.

Friday 6 September

7.30pm - c9.40pm

Debussy

The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian - excerpts

Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor

INTERVAL

Stravinsky The Firebird

Alexander Toradze piano

Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra

Valery Gergiev conductor

The Proms debut of charismatic conductor Valery Gergiev: he brings with him the orchestra of which he is now music director alongside his leadership of the Kirov Opera. Tonight's music was all composed within three fruitful years, in the heady period just before the First World War.